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Sludge

SLUDGE fundraiser educates residents

About 100 area residents — the majority of them farmers — attended a fundraiser and informational event at H&H Pool Hall in Cassville Saturday night, where the prospective contamination of soil and groundwater from the land-application of industrial meat-processing and human sludge was the central theme. Two waste-hauling companies, Synagro Central and HydroAg Environmental, have more than 150 proposed permits pending with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to land-apply processing waste to almost 10,000 acres in Barry County.
Read MoreSLUDGE fundraiser educates residents

SLUDGE plans fundraiser, informational opportunity

With Denali Water Solutions’ operations on hiatus, Vallerie Steele, spokesperson for the citizens group SLUDGE (Stop Land Use Damaging our Ground and Environment), fears that residents are forgetting the unpleasantries and hazards connected with the land-application of meat-processing waste. To bring the issue back to forefront of residents' minds, SLUDGE is hosting a fish-fry fundraiser and informational session on Saturday at 6 p.m. at H & H Pool Hall in Cassville.
Read MoreSLUDGE plans fundraiser, informational opportunity

Bird flu: Not just for the birds

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or “bird flu,” is on the move in dairy herds across the United States, and while scientists seemed baffled by the means of the H5N1 virus’ initial leap from poultry to a herd of Texas dairy cattle in March, poultry-industry insider William Wymore, of Owensville, believes its transmission can be easily explained. The storage and land-application of poultry and meat-processing sludge is facilitating the spread of bird flu, he alleges.
Read MoreBird flu: Not just for the birds

Size matters in passed bill

When it comes to pending new regulations for waste-storage basins and tanks, size will make a difference. Earthen basins the size of Denali Water Solutions’ Evans and Gideon lagoons, in Newton and McDonald Counties — which each have a storage capacity of about 15 million gallons — could be subject to tighter regulations if proposed legislation is signed into law by Governor Parson.
Read MoreSize matters in passed bill

New rules, more sludge according to EPA environmental assessment

EPA environmental assessment: changes may triple amount of waste New effluent guidelines proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for wastewater discharge from meat and poultry-processing (MPP) facilities could result in as much as 1.2 million more tons of residual sludge, per year, according to an EPA Environmental Assessment (EA). The proposed new guidelines (released in December) are designed to offer additional protections to surface water and, thereby, public drinking water systems that source water from surface features.
Read MoreNew rules, more sludge according to EPA environmental assessment